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UF gameplan altered after Burton injured

Florida's Trey Burton breaks a 50-yard run out of the wildcat formation in the Gators' 37-7 loss to FSU on Saturday.

Elizabeth Hamilton/Correspondent

By Zach AbolverdiCorrespondent

Published: Monday, December 2, 2013 at 6:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, December 1, 2013 at 8:05 p.m.

A major portion of Florida's offensive game plan against Florida State went out the window in the first quarter of Saturday's 37-7 loss.

Senior receiver Trey Burton left the game after Florida's second series and returned to the field before halftime in street clothes with his shoulder wrapped in ice.

The injury to Burton, who gave the Gators momentum early with a 50-yard run out of the wildcat formation, killed any chance they had at being successful offensively.

“We were probably going to have 30-35 plays with Trey (at quarterback),” UF coach Will Muschamp said. “Some of the misdirection runs now go out of the game plan, so you gotta make adjustments and you gotta change.

“When that happened to us, it became difficult. We lost some of the misdirection runs, some of the wildcat packages we devoted to Trey all week. In those situations, there's only so many reps you have in practice. So (his injury) crushed us.”

Burton didn't know the extent of his injury after the game, but that wasn't on his mind.

“Obviously you don't want to go out like that,” he said. “I felt like I let my team down a little bit. But it's obviously not something I can control. I just wish I could have been there to finish it up.

“We had a bunch of (wildcat plays prepared). I was excited for the opportunity and I was going to try to make the most of it. It got cut a little short.”

The Gators' 193 yards of total offense was their second lowest output of the season. Muschamp felt they would have been more productive with Burton available.

“We just had some different plays off of some of the base stuff that we've run,” he said. “We had a counter coming back, we had a trap, we had a couple of passes off of it. There were just some things we felt good about that Trey had repped all week. We had a lot of confidence in him. Every time he's been in those situations he's performed very well. And that was a big package of what we wanted to do today.”

“I hurt for Trey because he's a senior, his last game in The Swamp. So very difficult for him. He's a great young man. It just kind of sums up what's happened this year. Very frustrating.”

Burton said he hasn't thought much about the NFL other than planning to train for the draft as a receiver. For now, he'll spend time reflecting on his final outing and UF career.

“I obviously wanted it to go a different way, but I'm extremely thankful for the four years I had here,” he said. “I'll always be proud to be a Gator.”

<p>A major portion of Florida's offensive game plan against Florida State went out the window in the first quarter of Saturday's 37-7 loss.</p><p>Senior receiver Trey Burton left the game after Florida's second series and returned to the field before halftime in street clothes with his shoulder wrapped in ice.</p><p>The injury to Burton, who gave the Gators momentum early with a 50-yard run out of the wildcat formation, killed any chance they had at being successful offensively.</p><p>“We were probably going to have 30-35 plays with Trey (at quarterback),” UF coach Will Muschamp said. “Some of the misdirection runs now go out of the game plan, so you gotta make adjustments and you gotta change. </p><p>“When that happened to us, it became difficult. We lost some of the misdirection runs, some of the wildcat packages we devoted to Trey all week. In those situations, there's only so many reps you have in practice. So (his injury) crushed us.”</p><p>Burton didn't know the extent of his injury after the game, but that wasn't on his mind.</p><p>“Obviously you don't want to go out like that,” he said. “I felt like I let my team down a little bit. But it's obviously not something I can control. I just wish I could have been there to finish it up.</p><p>“We had a bunch of (wildcat plays prepared). I was excited for the opportunity and I was going to try to make the most of it. It got cut a little short.”</p><p>The Gators' 193 yards of total offense was their second lowest output of the season. Muschamp felt they would have been more productive with Burton available.</p><p>“We just had some different plays off of some of the base stuff that we've run,” he said. “We had a counter coming back, we had a trap, we had a couple of passes off of it. There were just some things we felt good about that Trey had repped all week. We had a lot of confidence in him. Every time he's been in those situations he's performed very well. And that was a big package of what we wanted to do today.”</p><p>“I hurt for Trey because he's a senior, his last game in The Swamp. So very difficult for him. He's a great young man. It just kind of sums up what's happened this year. Very frustrating.”</p><p>Burton said he hasn't thought much about the NFL other than planning to train for the draft as a receiver. For now, he'll spend time reflecting on his final outing and UF career.</p><p>“I obviously wanted it to go a different way, but I'm extremely thankful for the four years I had here,” he said. “I'll always be proud to be a Gator.”</p>